Grapefruit, Lemons Tangerines Change in April Crop Forecast

USDA April Citrus Crop Forecast Has Changes in Grapefruit and Lemons

Mark Hudson, USDA/NASS delivered the April citrus crop forecast from Washington D.C.. The California Valencia orange forecast is 10.5 million boxes (420,000 tons), unchanged from the previous forecast but up 11 percent from last season’s final utilization. The California Navel orange forecast is 42.0 million boxes (1.68 million tons), unchanged from the previous forecast but up 7 percent from last season’s revised final utilization.

Slight changes were reported for Grapefruit, Lemons and Tangerines. Grapefruit increased from the reported 3.7 million boxes in March to 3.9 million boxes this month. Lemons also had an increase from 20 million boxes last month to 21 million this month. Tangerines increased from 21 million to 22 million boxes.

The USDA-NASS, Pacific Regional Office released the crop production forecast for April. The latest survey, conducted during the last week of March 2016, and the first week of April 2016, included the commodities:

Navel Oranges – The 2015 – 2016 Navel orange forecast is 84.0 million cartons, unchanged from the January forecast, but up 7 percent from last season’s crop.

Valencia Oranges – The 2015 – 2016 Valencia orange forecast is 21.0 million cartons, unchanged from the March forecast, but up 11 percent from the 2014 – 15 crop.

Grapefruit – The 2015 – 2016 California grapefruit forecast is 7.80 million cartons, up 5 percent from the January forecast but down 9 percent from last season’s crop.

Lemons – The 2015 – 2016 California lemon forecast is 42.0 million cartons, up 5 percent from the January forecast and up 2 percent from last season’s final production. In California the desert harvest is complete.

Tangerines – The 2015 – 2016 California tangerine forecast (including mandarins and tangelos) is 44.0 million cartons. Production is up 19 percent from last season’s crop, and up 5 percent from the January forecast.

Production forecasts are released on a monthly basis and do not reflect final production estimates. The next production forecast for California will be issued May 10, 2016.